The Wandering Mage
by Equinox73099
Summary: Captured by Imperials, Wagon-bound to Helgen for execution is where our protagonist's story begins. Once the Black Dragon gives him a chance at freedom, he sets off towards Riverwood with his… Two companions? One of whom has a hero complex and stick in a very uncomfortable place. not a dragonborn POV story. no/slash.
1. Chapter 1

The Wandering Mage

Disclaimer: I do not own Elder Scrolls, only my OCs

Summary: Captured by Imperials, Wagon-bound to Helgen for execution is where our protagonist's story begins. Once the Black Dragon gives him a chance at freedom, he sets off towards Riverwood with his… Two companions? One of whom has a hero complex and stick in a very uncomfortable place. Not a Dragonborn POV story, more than one hero. no/slash.

"_If you choose magic you will never be able to return to the life you once lived. Your world may be more ... exciting ... but it will also be more dangerous. Less reliable. And once you begin to walk the path of magic, you can never step off of it._" **-Neil Gaiman**

_**-CHAPTER START-**_

__'I knew I should have chosen Valenwood instead of skyrim as a tourist destination…' was what was going through our hero's mind, slightly changing each time the thought repeated, the last repetition being more along the lines of 'fucking tundra, next time It's an option between lush forests and hamlets villages, I'll pay someone to slap me if I start acting stupidly.'

The man was dressed in little more than rags, his travelling clothes having been taken when he was captured crossing the border. Alongside him were Stormcloak prisoners of war that were caught in an ambush not too long before him, hence why they were sharing a wagon. The Imperial soldiers he was found by showed themselves to be deaf to his reasoning that he was just crossing the border and wasn't a Stormcloak, and captured him. Not wanting to become an outlaw, the man complied, not realizing they were heading straight to Helgen to be executed because of a high value target until it was too late. No trial, no conviction, just an outright death penalty for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His only chance was to try and explain himself to whomever was in charge at Helgen and hope they believed him, otherwise he would wind up with about 22 inches off the top. All in all, he was thinking he was done for.

The man's shaggy hair was clumped and tangled from lack of care, and his brown eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them. The Stormcloak next to him, a red haired nord by the name of Gunjar, kept muttering obscenities at the imperial carriage driver and his guard every so often, but otherwise the final stretch of this trip was passing in silence, the prisoners lost to their thoughts and the soldiers content to leave them like that.

In the cart a short distance behind them was the high value target they wished to execute so badly, one Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm and leader of the Stormcloak rebellion. He could see the two others in the cart that were like him, just caught in the aftermath of the ambush. One of them had been asleep the last time he looked, but appeared the be awake now, a buff nord with long blond locks. The other, a black haired individual who was a caught horse thief, he'd been able to hear the complaints and pleas of ever since he'd been captured.

His cart suddenly stopped, and he turned back to look and see that they had arrived at the front gates of Helgen, and two more Imperials were opening the gate to let them through. The wagon continued onwards once the gate was fully open, rolling into the small Imperial outpost town. The brown haired individual spotted the flags of the legion waving in the wind in front of an archer tower. A child was watching the carriage roll by, interested in the soldier's goings on. Once a ways past he heard the child question the man next to him "Who are they, daddy? Where are they going?"

The man responded seriously, "you need to go inside little cub."

"Why, I want to watch the soldiers…" the child whined.

"Inside the house. Now."

They continued along, citizens of the town watching them, some with wariness, some with sadness, some of the nosier ones just with interest as to who exactly was getting executed. They finally pulled to a stop and were instructed to get off the wagon. He jumped off the back, landing in a slight crouch, and moved to join the line of soldiers awaiting their entrance to Sovngarde. The thief tried to make a run for it, getting multiple arrows in the back for his troubles. He wound up directly to the right of the sleeper, who watched him with the same eyes everyone else here had; Sad, determined eyes ready to face whatever came.

Tullius stepped in front of Ulfric, who was gagged for a reason unknown to the man. He glared at him, before motioning to the captain and a man holding a sheet of parchment. The man began speaking in a blank tone, calling down the different stormcloaks by name, until he got to the brown haired man. He then stated, "You from Daggerfall, Breton? Fleeing from some court intrigue?"

"Actually I'm fro-" he began but was cut off by the captain.

"To the block, Prisoner, now." the captain said in a no-nonsense tone.

"But I'm trying to tell you all I'm not a Stormcloak! I'm from Cyrodil for Shor's sake! I just came here to learn more magic from the college! I'm a mage!"

The captain ground her teeth and said. "You were captured at the Stormcloak rendezvous outside Darkwater Crossing. Allowing you to live is a situational risk I will not take. Now TO THE BLOCK!" suddenly a noise was heard in the distance, like a great roar.

The man slumped and began shuffling towards the executioner's block. Hadvar gave him a sympathetic look and said, "We shall make sure your body is returned to your family, what is your name so we may track down any relatives?"

"Magnus Brynjar, my family owns a general store in the Imperial city…" he said defeatedly. He stopped in front and began toning out the priestess as she delivered his last rites. He came out of his morbid musing when he heard the same noise again, but much closer this time, and clearly a distinctive roar. He heard General Tullius speaking to Ulfric, well ranting might've been a better description. "You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos. Now the empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace!"

The noise rang out a third time, sounding as though it were just out of their view. Hadvar asked, "General, what was that?"

"It's nothing. Carry on." Tullius said dismissively.

The priestess was still carrying on, until she was interrupted by a Stormcloak shouting from the line. "For the love of Talos, shut up and get this over with."

Magnus glared at the man, and replied. "Some of us want our last rites, fool. Silence and let the priestess speak."

The sister cleared her throat and continued speaking, finishing the last of the last rites. Magnus was pushed forward by the captain, and shoved roughly to the ground, biting his tongue as his chin made contact with the wood. As he was staring at the guardsman's shoes, he heard a fourth roar, sounding for all the world as though it was right on top of him. He heard Tullius shout out. "**What in Oblivion is that?!**" he rolled off the block and got on his knees, seeing a behemoth black beast on top of one of the archer towers he'd spotted earlier. The beast let out a bellow that Magnus could barely make out, he barely understood. "_Do-Vah-Strun!" _Magnus felt a power in the air and saw the sky changing colors, fiery red clouds covering it, and out of the blue, flaming boulders came pouring out of the clouds, crashing into the ground around Helgen, creating a picture of utter chaos and discord.

He heard distantly one of the nords speak to the man that was next to him in the line-up. "Kinsman, Move! The gods won't give us another chance!" Magnus also took this as his chance, and taking a stand, made to follow them into the building they were rushing into. He made it in just as they were about to close the door, the Stormcloak holding it only stopped by him forcing it back open with his shoulder. The man gave him a peeved look, then shoved the door closed behind him.

He saw one of the two blond nords, the Stormcloak, speaking frantically to Ulfric, "Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing? Could the legends be true?"

Ulfric deadpanned. "Legends don't burn down villages." he took stock of the men in the room, then stated, "we need to move, **now!**"

Magnus stopped them by saying, "wait, get these bindings off me and the other guy! We're dead if we go out there with these on!" Ulfric nodded to Ralof, then took the rest of the rebels and made his way back outside. A loud crash echoed from upstairs, causing them all to look around warily to make sure the building wasn't collapsing, then Ralof took a dagger and cut his blond friend loose, then motioned Magnus over and did the same for him. Now free, Magnus rubbed his wrists, which had pink lines of rope burn cut into them, and asked. "Where to now?"

"We need to find some way out of here." the unknown blond said.

"We should make for the keep, there must be a secret exit for the Imperials to use." Ralof guessed.

"As good a plan as any." with that they went back to the front door and tried to open it, only to find it was now blocked by some debris, and stuck. "Shit." Magnus said, and Ralof nodded along. The unnamed man, though, was already looking up the stairs, and called for them. Going up, they saw a giant hole had been blown in the side of the tower, and if they jumped they could land on the second floor of a burning building next to them. Not much of an improvement, but it was all they had at that point in time.

The nameless man jumped first as it was him that helped point it out, landing with a thud and quickly moving out of the flaming interior. Ralof went next, not sticking his landing and being forced to roll, came up coughing and rushed outside as well. Magnus jumped through next, the building now well and truly an inferno inside, only to have the floor break underneath him, no longer capable of supporting him. He landed on the bottom floor, which was almost completely on fire, save for the small area that had been snuffed out by the section of floor that he fell with. He quickly used the _Frostbite_ spell, and cleared a path to the front door to meet up with his companions, who were about to rush in to help him.

The three looked back at the burning building as it collapsed in on itself mere moments after Magnus was outside, and shared an uneasy chuckle before moving on. They moved in line towards the keep, staying as far away from any Imperials as possible. Their luck held until they spotted the creature land in front of the boy Magnus had seen earlier, who was kneeling in front of his father's body with tears running down his face, not listening to Hadvar calling him over to them. The blond nord chose this moment to run in front of the beast as it roared out. "_Toor-Shul._" the man grabbed the boy without stopping his mad dash, just barely getting them both out of the blast of fire that burned the boy's father to a crisp in an instant. Magnus motioned for him to keep moving to the keep, got a nod in return, and moved through an archway with Ralof.

The man rejoined them just as they were about to open a door into the keep, having just argued with Hadvar, a conversation where he tried to convince Magnus to go with him instead of Ralof, to which he retorted, "hmm… go with the man whose been by my side for this fucked up attack, or go with the one who was about to allow me to be executed. Sorry Hadvar, no contest there!" the Imperial just huffed and ran off through a different door.

Once inside the keep, they found the body of the red haired rebel Magnus had shared a wagon with, Gunjar, and were forced to loot his body for gear. Magnus got the pants and shoes, and the other nord got the shirt, gloves, and axe. The man said. "Now we need to find a way out of here, any-" he was interrupted by the sound of a gate opening, and Ralof shouting out "Imperials!"

The trio stared down the three enemies who had entered the room, the captain with them making the first move in charging Ralof, who expertly parried his first blow. The other two took their queue, and charged at them, Magnus quickly putting his down with two firebolts, the most advanced spell he had mastered, an apprentice level one. He turned to see the other auxiliary get beheaded by the nameless man's iron axe. Ralof was in a stalemate with his foe, both enemies blocking every blow unleashed. Magnus broke the tie by blasting the captain in the face with frostbite, freezing his head solid, and after a moment he toppled over, dead. They looted their new source of gear, Ralof grabbing an extra blade, and Magnus grabbing an Imperial tunic and a pair of bracers.

"Think the other Stormcloaks will try to kill me for wearing this?" he asked wearily.

Ralof looked at him and said, "best not get separated from us." while looking at the other guy, who was hopping on one foot attempting to fit in a pair of leggings.

"Nord, what is your name, I didn't catch it when we were in the Line-up." Magnus questioned. "I heard Ralof from the carts when he introduced himself as we were pretty close, but I never heard you say anything."

"I'm Sigurd, Sigurd Asmund." the man grunted, now having moved onto boots. Once he was fully outfitted as well. The trio stalked through the halls, slaying their way through any Imperials they found, and actually grouping up with another Stormcloak they saved as he was about to be killed in an unfair two versus one fight. Numbered four, they made their way into the depths of the keep, occasionally feeling the building shake from the creature Ralof had identified as a dragon even as deep down as they were. Eventually they came into a new area, and Ralof whispered, "by the nine…" for they had just found the interrogation room, referred to in other terms as the torture chamber. It appeared a battle had already taken place here, as besides a wounded Imperial sat against the wall, slowly bleeding out from a stab wound to the chest, there were four other corpses in the room: a mage in a cage, two rebels, and the interrogator himself. Magnus saw a knapsack on the table and grabbed it, searching the inside before putting the leather strap over his shoulder so he would be able to store more things.

Sigurd found a book on the table interesting, and pocketed it, along with grabbing a shield from inside a sideroom. Magnus found a lockpick on the table the knapsack was on, and chose to try his hand at picking the lock on the mages cage. He found himself a dab hand at lockpicking, and opened the door easily, appropriating the man's hood and robes for himself. They were clearly novice level, lacking many of the enchantments more skilled mages put on their robes, but they were far more suited to him than the armor he was wearing before, and also less likely to get him killed by any rebels they came across.

They put the interrogator's assistant out of his misery, and went through a side passage that led downstairs. They found more legionnaires, the group of four ending the two of them quickly, and found a bridge to cross. At this point, they had left the keep, and were in an underground cave. The bridge was being guarded by men with bows, so Ralof motioned for them to keep down and try to stay out of sight until close. Magnus completely ignored that, and fired a firebolt at the one furthest away, his aim proving true and striking the man dead in the face, killing him instantly. The one closest was alerted to their presence, but the one shot he got off impacted Sigurd's shield, as he'd moved in front of Ralof and blocked it at the last second. The duo of blonde's strapped the quivers of iron arrows to their backs, along with the longbows, and they continued on their way.

The quad of men followed a stream up until it let them into a Frostbite spider nest, where Magnus was forced to halt their advance by applying a continuous stream of flames while Sigurd and Ralof shot them with bows, they passed through unharmed, and walked into a large open cavern where the four saw a bear sleeping at the other end of it.

"Tread softly, I'd rather not tangle with her right now." Ralof muttered. "Just take it nice and slow, and watch where you step… if you feel you have to, blast it from a distance."

At this Sigurd got out his bow and took aim, figuring he could sell the pelt in a nearby town. The bear took the shot like it was nothing, got up and began charging him, causing Magnus to also begin shooting it with firebolts. It took a combination of Magnus, Sigurd, and Ralof all shooting the beast for it to collapse not ten feet shy of them, looking like a burnt pincushion as nearly all their combined remaining arrows were spent on it.

The pelt was slightly singed, but Sigurd figured it was still alright to sell, so he skinned the bear, and took its claws as well as a trophy. After that last obstacle, the four were finally outside, just in time to watch the black dragon flying away from Helgen, presumably having levelled the town. Thereafter, they watched to make sure it hadn't seen them, then the fourth member of their party bid them farewell, choosing instead to head up to windhelm to rejoin the fighters, while Ralof wished to visit his sister in Riverwood before returning, and inviting his two companions to join him, offering food and ale to his fellow survivors as enticement. So off they went, traipsing down the road following Ralof.

They stopped for a moment at a trio of stones overlooking a large river. Ralof called them standing stones, and said there were more like them across Skyrim. Sigurd and Magnus both stepped forward, feeling compelled to the stones. Sigurd stopped in front of the one Ralof called the Warrior Stone, while Magnus stepped in front of the Mage Stone. They placed their hands on them at the exact same time, and a glow erupted from both stones, covering them for a moment before disappearing.

When asking Ralof what happened, he just shrugged his shoulders and said wryly, "I do not know, I am not the mage of our group, and have no knowledge of how ancient magic stones work." Magnus just grumbled and stated that he would look into it at some point.

They were also waylaid by two bandits who, upon a moment of reflection, they realized were guardian the entrance to the place Ralof called 'Embershard Mine'. The Stormcloak suggested they clear out the bandits inside so no one from riverwood would get harmed by them, to which Sigurd happily agreed to help him do. They both turned to Magnus, who gave it a moment of debate before saying. "Sure, if nothing else I'm sure there'll be something useful in here once we've gotten rid of the highwaymen."

On their little excursion, Magnus found a spell tome for a spell he already knew how to use, _clairvoyance_, though he still snagged it to sell, along with three gems and a coin pouch they split. By the time they exited the cave they had about 70 gold each on them, and maybe 200 gold each worth of gear they could sell. Sigurd had also relinquished his iron axe for a steel battleaxe their bandit chief was wielding, while their resident Stormcloak took a hunting bow one of them used. Magnus kept the gems for himself since they got upgrades for gear, and they continued on their path to Riverwood.

Finally, the three arrived at the small riverside hamlet, passing by an old lady arguing with her son about spotting a dragon. After correcting the young lad by agreeing with the woman, they passed by the blacksmith shop and walked over a small bridge to the lumber mill, where Ralof snuck up behind a woman who was watching the lake, and picked her up in a great bear hug.

"Hello Gerdur!" he greeted joyfully, causing her to relax in his arms.

"Brother! It's been ages since you last came down from windhelm, it's so good to see you! What are you doing here, though? Last we heard, Ulfric had been captured, we were so worried about you. And who are these new friends of yours?"

"It is a… very long story. These two have fought by my side today, and saved my life multiple times. Is there a safe place to speak, there's no telling when news of Helgen will reach the Imperials."

A man and a boy approach from the side of the mill. "Ralof, what are you doing here…" the man said softly, but a smile grew on his face, while the boy ran up to him and said excitedly. "Uncle Ralof! can I see your axe? How many Imperials have you killed? Do you really know Ulfric Stormcloak?"

Gerdur commanded, "Frodnar, this isn't the time for games, go watch the south road for Imperials, warn us if any Imperial soldiers appear."

"But I wanna stay and talk with uncle…" he withered under her glare and despondently walked off.

Ralof called out to him, "You're growing up too fast Frodnar, you're almost a man grown already! It won't be long until you join me in the fight." this brightened the boy's expression, and put a pep in his step.

"Now, what's going on Ralof, the three of you look like death warmed over."

Ralof looked like he was struggling to put what happened into words, so Magnus spoke. "We were all about to get executed by Imperials. A dragon of all things saved us by attacking, and as far as we know, levelling Helgen. We barely escaped with our lives, and Ralof offered us sanctuary here for the night, madam. Last we saw the dragon was flying...this way in all honesty. It must have just missed you." Ralof was nodding along as he spoke, and interjected once Magnus was done.

"The Imperial cowards were going to execute two who weren't even Stormcloaks just because they were THERE! That would be these two. They weren't even going to try any of us… the bastards were just going to kill us all for treason. HA, more like fighting for your freedom, but I don't think those dogs would understand that."

Gerdur, though, was hung up on part of Magnus' story. "A real, live...dragon." she muttered in awe and fear.

All three of them nodded seriously, Sigurd speaking up. "We could feel it tearing apart Helgen even underground as we escaped through a cave system. We saw it burn through nearly 3 dozen Imperials. It was a dragon alright, and if it hadn't shown up, we would all be dead."

"By the gods." she murmured.

"Well this has all been very fun conversation, but I am starving. Being under the care of the legion since my entrance into Skyrim will do that. Would you happen to have any food and drink you would willingly part with, Gerdur?" Magnus pressed, a stomach growling coming from Sigurd proving his point further about their state.

"You saved my brother's life. For all of you, of course I do. But after you have had your fill, I have a request to ask. Someone needs to go to Whiterun and tell the Jarl about… all of this. A dragon that could come back and attack Riverwood, Helgen, all of it. He needs to be made aware of it, otherwise a dragon attacking Riverwood would destroy it without even a token resistance, as we don't have guards stationed here at the moment."

Sigurd said immediately. "I will do it, it's the least I can do for you sharing you food as you are." Ralof looked to Magnus, asking with a look whether he was going or not.

Magnus debated it in his head for a few moments, before sighing and saying, "I'm headed to Winterhold for the college soon after this, but I guess Whiterun isn't too far out of my way, I'll go as well." Sigurd smiled at that, and they went towards Gerdur's house for a nice meal, grabbing Frodnar and Hod on the way. After they were done, Sigurd and Magnus went to the local general store to sell the spare items they had kept.

Inside they heard a man arguing with a woman.

"No! You will not go there, I forbid it!." he said furiously.

"They stole from us, you're just going to let them get away with it?!" the woman asked incredulously.

"Bleak Falls Barrow is a dangerous place, I'm sure they'll get theirs one way or another, we will just have to live without the claw." they turned away and saw they had customers, and both of them blushed at being caught arguing.

"Welcome friends, to the Riverwood Trader. I am Lucan, this is my sister Carmilla. Looking for anything in particular?" Lucan asked.

"Looking to sell some items we came into." Magnus stated plainly.

"Alright let's see what you got." they laid all the items they weren't using on the table, and came out with around 200 gold each, putting Magnus at around 500 coins he was toting in his knapsack. Seeing this, Lucan grinned.

"Tell me friends, I notice you are just carrying around your coin in that knapsack or just your pockets in your friends case. But I...I have a bargain for you. I got these off a mage my last visit up north, take a look." with that he pulled out six coin pouches and sat them on the table.

Magnus stared for a moment, then deadpanned. "They're coin pouches."

"Not just any coin sack, my friends," Lucan began charismatically. "But **enchanted** coin purses. Enchanted in that they have expanded space inside. Now, they only downside to this is the Mages up north are still working on ways to make this work on bigger items, but these pouches will allow any budding adventurer to store **any** amount of coin in them, the pouch never getting heavier. I also know that some people use them for carrying other valuables, such as gems… or lockpicks for opening locked chests in those old nordic ruins you all are so fond of." he smiled disarmingly at them, then continued. "I would sell you two these at a only a miniscule hundred gold apiece, and you would never have to worry about storing money again."

Magnus gave it some thought, on one hand he might not necessarily need it, but he had a vision of himself having to tote a chest full of gold whenever he wanted to make an expensive purchase, and instantly spent 300 gold buying 3 of them. Sigurd, however, said. "I have an offer for you, Lucan," the shopkeeper looked interested at that. "As you've probably guessed, we heard about your… difficulties with a thief stealing something from you, what if I offered to bring it back, that is… if you agree to give me the other 3 of those at either a reduced price, or free altogether."

Lucan debated it "hmm, the main value of the claw was decoration...though it is solid gold… maybe… yes, alright. Ok, if you return the claw to me or my sister, then we'll give you **one** of these pouches for free, but the other two will be at normal price if you want more than one."

Sigurd looked as though he wanted to haggle more, but simply shrugged and said. "A fair deal. Alright, I shall go to Bleak Falls Barrow as soon as I have reported to the Jarl of Whiterun. Make sure to keep them on hold, as I **will** be back for them." with that they turned and left the store, beginning the tread to Whiterun. They encountered a few nuisances along the way, a pack of wolves and a few Mudcrab, but the journey seemed fairly smooth up until they came around a bend and saw a group of fighters combatting a giant in a field up ahead. Sigurd charged forward, armor clinking, drawing his sword as he rushed to their aid. Magnus groaned and chased after his overeager companion, firebolts ready in each hand.

When they arrived, the giant looked to be on its last legs, but still it swung its hammer at a red haired woman with claw marks painted onto her face as a war-paint. The woman hopped over the club, putting a hand on the shaft to ensure she had enough lift to get over it. She came down moving, slashing her dagger at the giants ankle, cutting its achilles tendon and sending it into a kneel. A big broad shouldered nord in steel armor charged at the behemoth with a greatsword, but was sent sprawling by a surprise backhand from the downed monster. Sigurd chose that moment to enter the fray, swinging the blade downwards as though performing an execution, and severing the giants arm, a thud marking it hitting the ground.

The giant roared out its pain, and was silenced soon after by the redhead shooting an arrow that hit dead center on its forehead, killing it instantly. She walked over to Sigurd smiling.

"Well fought," she began. "You would make an admirable shield-brother, friend."

Smiling confusedly, he replied. "thanks...I think. Question, though, what is a shield-brother?"

"An outsider, eh. Never heard of the companions? We're an order of warriors established in Whiterun, we are brothers and sisters in honor."

Sigurd got stars in his eyes, and exclaimed. "That sounds cool! Can I join you?"

Aela replied. "That's not for me to decide. Head over to Jorrvaskur, our mead hall. Ask to speak to Kodlak Whitemane, he'll judge your worthiness. Should you choose to go, good luck." she walked off, rejoining her fellow companions, and set off towards skyrim, whilst Sigurd bounded over to him and said excitedly. "So, you gonna try to join as well? I think this is a fantastic opportunity."

"I'm a mage, Sigurd, not a warrior or brawler. Just as soon as I've gotten you to Whiterun I'm off to the College of Winterhold to join them." he explained, causing Sigurd's face to fall.

"That's a shame, you're a fair travelling companion, I wouldn't mind continuing travelling with you for awhile, but if we must be separated, then let it be as friends." he grinned.

"Uhh...sure. Friends." Magnus smiled back awkwardly.

The duo continued on their way to the city, until they reached the main gates, where two guards stood before the closed wooden doors. "Halt citizen. City's closed with dragon's about, official business only." one of them stepped forward and said.

"My friend here has news from Helgen about the dragon attack, he requires an audience with the Jarl." their eyes widened under their helmets.

"...very well, but stay out of trouble, we'll be watching." he said, and went to help his fellow guard push open the gate, allowing Sigurd entrance to the city.

He turned to stare at Magnus sorrowfully, and spoke. "I suppose this is goodbye for now, friend. I shall come visit you if I find myself near winterhold in the future. It was a pleasure travelling with you."

"It was an experience travelling with you, Sigurd, one I'm not likely to forget anytime soon. Stay safe, what with dragons about and you about to go dungeon crawling." Magnus said lightheartedly.

"I shall, goodbye friend."

"See you, Sigurd."

With that, the battle axe wielder strolled off into the city, while Magnus turned around and began the trek back down to the main road.

Internally, Magnus was actually happier than sad, and thought. 'Thank the gods, if I got involved in one more dangerous situation because of him… first Embershard, then he tries to get me to go into a ruin that's probably full of bandits or worse, THEN ropes me into helping him fight a giant. My life expectancy was going down more and more every hour I spent with him.'

He reached the main road quickly, and set off towards Winterhold. He walked at a quick pace, trying to cover some ground before nightfall, as it was already afternoon. He had just passed whitewatch tower as the sun was setting, and chose to set up camp near because he figured the guards outpost would serve as a deterrent for bandits and the like. He ate some of the food he had leftover from Gerdurs, and slept like a stone until the sun rose.

_**-LINE BREAK-**_

His first encounter with a foe happened fairly soon after he set out for the second day of his travels. Magnus saw a ruined keep in the distance, labelled on the map he had purchased from Lucan while he was tallying up the sale price for their items, as Fellglow Keep. Magnus saw other mages guarding the place, and was going to attempt to sneak around the castle to avoid confrontation when one spotted him and opened fire on him with a sparks spell. This quickly devolved into chaos, as the enemies allies came over and also began firing on Magnus forcing him to take cover behind a boulder as their spells splashed against the rock.

Magnus had taken out two of them with Lucky firebolts, but the remaining four were constantly bombarding his cover. The good news is that none of them seemed incredibly powerful, as the most dangerous spell sent at him was an ice spike, any explosive spells and he would've been done for since he couldn't leave this spot, but the sheer volume of the spells was a nuisance. Finally he'd had enough, and firebolt in each hand, roared and ran out of his cover firing bolt after bolt at his enemies, killing one instantly and wounding another two. He was slightly frozen when his last standing foe turned a frostbite spell on him, but he was ended quickly by one last firebolt. He finished off the wounded with a steel dagger he'd found on his body, and set about stripping them of any useful items.

One loot session later, a slightly richer Magnus was sat in front of a door debating whether or not to go into the keep and finish off these mages. He eventually decided against it, as there were probably more skilled mages in similar numbers inside, and he struggled against these enemies. So he passed on with what he had already acquired, and continued along the trail.

His next place of interest was a cave he spotted when it was nearing nightfall. Magnus thought about sleeping in the cave for the night, but that idea was quashed when he heard the grunting of what sounded like beasts inside, and sensible chose to keep walking. He wound up camping a good distance from there, having chosen a small nook between two large rocks as his campsite as it offered protection from the harsher northern elements. His sleep did not come easily that night, with the beginnings of a heavy snow on the howling wind he had to continually wake to stoke the fire, or risk freezing.

The next day he was up and moving as soon as he saw the sun rising, wanting to reach his destination as soon as possible. He made a detour nevertheless, when he spotted Windhelm nearly straight ahead of him on the road, and chose to explore there for a day or two before moving onto Winterhold. Approaching the main gate, he heard two guards muttering about Aventus Aretino performing some kind of ritual in the city, and decided to check that out, and possibly take notes on what the ritual was if it proved to be useful.

His first steps into Windhelm did not warm him to the cold city. He saw a few nords ganging up on a dark elf, and harassing her, even accusing her of working for the empire, along with the rest of her race in the city.

"You live here in our city, eat our food, drink our ale, and what do you contribute!" the man said angrily.

"We work just as hard as anyone else in the city, and you know it." the woman rebutted.

"I haven't seen not one dark elf in Stormcloak colors."

"We are not involving ourselves in the war." she defended.

"Maybe they're Imperials spies, Rolff." one of the drunkards friends said.

"I think you may be right… maybe we should gather some of the boys and go to the grey quarter and check the loyalty of these elves, huh. I bet you're all working for the Thalmor, waitin' for your chance."

"...I won't even dignify that with a response. You should both sober up before you start spouting more conspiracy theories."

"We'll see. We got ways of making people tell the truth, elf…" at this she stiffened, but the nords simply walked off. The elf followed their movements for a moment, then turned to stare at Magnus.

"Do you hate us, too? Come to mock the dark elves slumming in the grey quarter?" she asked angrily, but with a defeated tone.

"Not particularly, I'm just headed to the mages college and Windhelm was right in front of me, so…" he said honestly.

"Well you're in the wrong place then. I'm sure if you give it some time the people here will hate you for magic just as much as they hate us Dark Elves, and even Argonians. Windhelm is little more than a cesspit of bigotry and racism." she said bitterly.

"From what I've seen so far, seems to hold up, but I'm still gonna explore for a day or so before moving on." Magnus agreed.

"If you wish to, I won't stop you, but watch yourself. The streets aren't safe nowadays."

"Cryptic statement, but thank you nonetheless, miss…"

'Suveris Atheron."

"Thank you miss Suveris." with that she retreated down an alley, presumably one that led to the grey quarter he heard about. 'Streets aren't safe nowadays, wonder what that's about?' Magnus thought to himself. He chose to do a quick tour of the city, and turned down a side alley to the left of Candlehearth Hall, and found a group of people standing around a body in a graveyard. Now this in itself is odd, as most bodies are put into **open** graves, but this one was just sat on top of a flat, rectangular stone. What really made it looked like something was off, was the entire area was absolutely covered in blood, on the ground around the body, the stone, there was even a trail of blood leading off into the distance Magnus noticed.

He walked up to the closest guard and asked. "What happened here?"

The woman replied with. "The butcher struck again… he's killed Susanna from Candlehearth this time. Gods I just spoke to her not two days ago." she said sadly.

"Butcher?" Magnus asked.

"A murdered has been stalking the streets. He mainly targets women, and when he strikes… he doesn't kill them, he **mutilates** them. The guards can't even properly investigate this, as thin as we're stretched nowadays by the war."

'Fuck… Sigurd's changed me for the worse.' he thought before blurting. "How about I help you investigate? At the worst, I wouldn't do any harm, and at best I could catch this guy myself. What have you got to lose."

"Well, I can't condone a civilian investigating a murder. You'll have to speak to Jorlief, Jarl Ulfric's steward. If he gives you the OK, then I have no problems accepting the help."

"Alright, be back in a bit then." he stated blithely, walking off towards the Palace of the Kings, cursing Sigurd internally. He was let in much easier than he expected to be, considering the leader of the rebellion resided in the palace. He sought out Ulfric first, to greet him once again after Helgen, but saw he was busy talking to a Stormcloak officer, so went to look for Jorleif instead. He found the man asleep in a bare kitchen of all places, on a mat behind some crates. He woke him up with a few shoulder shakes, and asked. "You are Jorlief, yes? I think you are, but I want to be sure."

"Huh...yes, yes I am Jorlief, steward of Jarl Ulfric. Can I help you with...something?" he yawned out.

"I'm here to request permission to investigate the latest murder from your resident serial killer. I want to help solve it."

The man's eyes widened, and he suddenly looked much more awake. "Well, I will never turn down aid, especially when our guards are unable to solve this themselves, as spread out as they are. I accept your offer, please aid us."

"Alright, I'm going back to the crime scene, if you require something, ask for Magnus Brynjar.

"Understood, if you need something, as well, you need only ask me and I will do it if the request is within my power and reason." the man began stretching as Magnus walked out, and he heard Jorlief's joints popping and cringed slightly.

He went back to the crime scene, and informed the guard that he got permission, and she responded with. "Fantastic! I shall go over the crime scene, while you interview the witnesses and see if they know anything useful."

The priest in charge of Windhelm's hall of the dead had little useful to say besides the victim's coin purse was still full, the same with Calixto, a local antique store owner. Silda the unseen as the woman was called, hadn't even made it to the area before the killer was gone. Magnus went back to the guard, who had given up on the crime scene and was about to leave the area, stating that she couldn't find anything of use.

Magnus saw two trails he could follow, though. One was the Priestess of Arkay, who was having the body moved to the hall of the dead for an autopsy, so given some time he could come back and interview her again. Another was a much more literal trail, and one of blood at that. He Followed it to a house in what he assumed was the upper class of Windhelm, where he was thwarted by a locked door. He asked a guard nearby who lived there and was told that was Hjerim, and until recently it belonged to Friga Shatter-Shield, another murder victim.

The sleuth decided to go see if he could get a way in from Jorleif, if not he would have to attempt to pick the lock. Reentering the Palace of the kings once more, he was accosted by none other than Ulfric Stormcloak.

"Well if it isn't my fellow brother in binds!" he boomed heartily. "I hear from Ralof you all had quite the adventure escaping from Helgen."

"Yea it was a tough sit-wait Ralof's here? I left him in Riverwood to take Sigurd to Whiterun like two days ago? How did he get here before me?" Magnus asked bemusedly.

Ulfric simply laughed and replied. "Perhaps he is just more fleet-of-foot than you, friend. He arrived last night, and reported to me before going to the local barracks."

"Guess so, I was not expecting that. Anyway, how are you Jarl Ulfric?"

"Just Ulfric, please! I don't need bootlickers or acolytes, just friends and allies. I am doing well, and you? What brings you to Windhelm, I saw you earlier but I was too busy then to entertain guests."

"I'm attempting to solve your murder problem, actually. I was just about to go ask Jorleif for a key to Hjerim, there's a blood trail leading there." Magnus explained.

"Well I can save you some trouble there. Jorleif would not have that key yet, It is more than likely in the hands of the Shatter-Shields still, I would go to their home and ask them for it, I'm sure they will be amenable when they hear you are pursuing Justice for their kin."

"Thanks for the advice Ulfric. I'll go there immediately." he turned around and was about to leave when Ulfric put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait… while I have you here, I wonder, would you be interested in joining Ralof and myself and other like minds in the Stormcloaks?" Ulfric asked eagerly.

"...Sorry Ulfric, I only recently arrived to Skyrim, I don't want to get involved in the war just yet, maybe another time. I still haven't been able to get to Winterhold, and the reason I came to Skyrim in the first place was for the college. Ask me again once time has passed and I've a better feel for where I stand." Ulfric's eyes dimmed a bit, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Very well. until that day, Talos guide you, friend."

He was forced to ask the same guard as before which house belonged to the Shatter-Shields, but found it once it was pointed out to him. The door was unlocked, but he knocked before entering anyway, as a courtesy. The house was empty, save for a sight that greatly saddened Magnus. He stood in an entryway to a sitting room, staring at the sight that Tova Shatter-Shield made. Her eyes looked dead, staring into the fireplace, but seeing something entirely different. He walked towards the grieving mother, and cleared his throat, causing her to flinch slightly.

"Who are you?" she asked quickly. "I am in no mood for visitors at the moment, I do apologize, but please leave, I am in no state for company."

"I need the key to Hjerim." Magnus blurted, then cursed himself.

Tova's red rimmed eyes narrowed. "Why?" she gritted out.

"I'm tracking the killer, he struck again last night and left a trail of blood leading towards Hjerim. I could just pick the lock and get in, but the key would make my job much simpler. I'm doing this to find the bastard that killed your daughter, so they can be brought to **justice**." he stressed.

She stared at him for a moment, before reaching into the folds of her clothes, and pulling out the key, handing it to him shakily. She spoke softly, but with a fire that had been missing until now. "If you find him… make sure he suffers like Friga did. He deserves no less." she growled.

Magnus simply grinned and said. "It will be done, then when I'm done with them, I'll take whoever it is to Jorleif for delivery." She just turned back to the fireplace and continued her staring into space, remembering better times.

He went back to Friga's old house, and unlocked the door. It opened with a squeak, obviously in need of oiling. The interior was dark and bare, looking mostly abandoned. Yet, there was fairly fresh food and drink on the lone table in the main hall. Magnus also found a bloody chest in the main area, which contained a plethora of 'beware the butcher' notices and a journal from the killer himself. The upstairs proved to be mostly empty, along with the last room that was downstairs. One thing that was grating on Magnus' nerves, though, was the fact that one of the wardrobes in the back room on the bottom floor was nailed to the wall, and trying to move it proved fruitless. He was about to give up, and kicked the open wardrobe angrily, which caused the back to give slightly.

Curious, he pushed the back inwards further, which revealed a secret room devoted to necromantic rituals. He found a second journal detailing the ritual the killer was attempting to undertake, and numerous amounts of body parts stored in the room to prepare for the ritual. Leaving the room to go inform Jorleif that it was a mage he was hunting, he also spotted a glint of some metal underneath a pile of those warnings, and pulled a strange amulet out of a cubby in the open cupboard.

He ran back to the palace, the sun beginning to set behind him, and raced inside to ask jorleif about local mages practiced in necromancy. His only reply was a stern face, and a muttered "Wuunferth, our court mage."

He then looked at Magnus, and said. "Thank you Magnus Brynjar, you have done Windhelm a service we shall not soon forget. We shall handle it from here. Take this as a reward." Jorleif said, handing him a pouch full of gold, he later found out when he counted it was 250 gold.

He strolled back to Candlehearth Hall with light steps, whistling a tune. He decided to rent a room for the night, and sleep in an actual bed for the first time since he entered skyrim! He went to sleep quickly, and slept heavily.

_**-LINE BREAK-**_

"_**DO-VAH-KIIN!"**_ an almighty heralding that shook the ground they walked on, vibrated their very bones, causing buildings to tremble with its power, roused Magnus from his sleep, causing him to literally jump out of bed and land on the floor painfully.

"What in oblivion?!" Magnus shouted to the empty room. He stood up quickly, and still cursing, made his way to the front of the tavern. He angrily asked the barkeep. "What in the name of Akatosh was that!"

She looked at him, skin pale and mouth slightly open. "They Greybeards… They've summoned the Dragonborn to High Hrothgar…"

_**-CHAPTER END-**_

_** -Extra Scene-**_

Sigurd had finally finished off the last bandit, and strolled over the wooden chest to claim his loot. When he passed by Valtheim towers, he was not expecting to get accosted by a random woman, let alone two random bandits who demanded he pay a toll. Naturally he refused, and well… they took exception to that. He was forced to cut his way through an entire bandit camp, finishing the job by beheading their chief.

Opening the chest, he found a steel sword, which he was going to leave their as his battle axe suited him much more, a good amount of gold, a soul gem, and… a white sphere? He put his hand on the beacon, about to pick it up, when** "A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON!"** he tore his hand away from the sphere like it was fire, putting both his hands over his ears and screaming out "BY THE GODS! MY EARS!"

"**Listen, hear me and obey!**" the ethereal voice said.

"What?" Sigurd shouted.

"**Return my beacon to Mount Kilkreath, go to my shrine and cleanse the darkness that dwells within it, I shall make you the instrument of my cleansing light."**

"...What?" Sigurd shouted once again.

_**-Extra scene end-**_

Hope y'all enjoyed that, just recently started another playthrough of skyrim… I swear I've put like 2k+ hours into that game across a few different systems. Started playing, got my mused hooked on writing a Skyrim story, this is what's come of it so far. R&R pls, see y'all on whatever chapter of whatever I release next

Doh-Vah-Struun= dragon storm

OC Dragonborn: Sigurd asmund.

OC Mage: Magnus Brynjar.


	2. Chapter 2: Aventus and Winterhold

The Wandering Mage

Chapter 2: Aventus & Winterhold

Hey y'all, my muse is still dominated by skyrim, which is also stunting my writing time as i'm enjoying my current playthrough so much, so it might be awhile before anything actually gets posted, I am still writing, just smaller amounts than usual. Hope y'all enjoy. R&R pls.

_"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."_ **-****Stephen King**

_**-LINE BREAK-**_

"The what?" Magnus asked confusedly.

"The Dragonborn, a legend among nords. The Dragonborn is a hero born with the body of a man and the soul of a dragon. The last of the Dragonblood was supposedly Martin Septim… if the Greybeards are calling him forth now of all times, when the dragons are returning…" she trailed off, losing herself in thought.

"Who is the Dragonborn, then?" Magnus pressed.

"I don't know, I doubt many people do, save the Dragonborn himself! I suppose we'll have to find out as he becomes known."

"Tell me more about this legend, then." he demanded.

She sighed but acquiesced. " there's much to be said about them. They're supposedly capable of using the voice in a manner that would surpass even the Greybeards. Many legends speak of their ability to absorb dragon souls, and knowledge that comes with them. There have been a few dragonborns throughout history, all well known and involved in shaping the world around them, names such as: Alessia the Slave Queen; Reman Cyrodiil; Tiber Septim was Dragonborn before his ascension to godhood, along with the rest of the Septim line. There are tales of the first Dragonborn to defy the Dragons, back when humanity was still enslaved to them. His name was Miraak."

"So basically great change is coming with his appearance."

"One cannot be certain, but... Aye, I think so." she finished in a whisper.

"What a time to come to Skyrim…"Magnus sighed.

"Right, enough talk of world-shaking events, I'm going to explore the city to find this Aretino kid, here's 5 gold to hold my room for me."

"I-I wouldn't go looking for that boy, mister… people **talk**, you know. They say he's been performing the Black Sacrament." she stammered.

"They talk a lot, but I digress. What's the Black Sacrament?"

"The ritual that calls the Brotherhood, sir."

"You're actually going to make me ask what the Brotherhood is, aren't you."

"The Dark Brotherhood, you know. The assassins." she whispered the last as though afraid she would be overheard.

"A ritual to summon an assassin group, now this I have to see." he got up from where he was sat despite the protests of the innkeep and made his way outside, only realizing after that he never asked her for directions to the kid's house. He wandered the city for a bit looking for anyone that could tell him, but only struck gold when he found a dark elf and a boy talking about him, near his house. The house was only locked with a basic lock, which Magnus easily picked when no one was looking, and he was in.

The house was fairly ordinary, if a little bare, from what he noticed on the bottom floor. Heading up the stairs he could hear a faint chant from the upstairs room.

"...send your child unto me, for the sins of the unworthy must be baptised in blood and fear… sweet mother sweet mother send your child unto me, for the sins of the unworthy must be baptised in blood and fear..."

Magnus crept up behind the boy and looked upon the ritual. There was a circle of candles surrounding pieces of a skeleton which had been gathered together, different organs and bits of flesh scattered inside the circle. The boy was reading from a book, iron dagger in hand while he chanted. Aventus suddenly stabbed downwards, piercing an already perforated heart laid in front of him. Magnus meant to take a step forward to try and gleam some knowledge from the book, but the floorboard creaked, and Aventus jumped up, having finally noticed him.

"You came, You've actually come! At last, I knew you would!" he exclaimed.

Magnus was so busy looking at the book at aretino's side which was still open, that he didn't speak.

"Now you'll accept my contract, right?"

"Hmm-what? What contract, boy?"

"Excellent, You're contract is to kill Grelod the kind, the orphanage owner in riften, she's a monster, I tell you! I can pay you with Aretino family heirlooms that were left to me, but my friends down there need her gone so they can actually get adopted."

Magnus was of two minds. Of one, he figured he could at least go down to riften and take a look at things in the near future, after he had established himself at the college. On the other hand, this was assassin territory, and Magnus was not a member of this… Brotherhood that Aventus was calling for.

Finally his curiosity won out. "Ok, I'll take care of her, don't worry about a thing kid."

"Yes! I knew you would, I knew it! Here, take these, they're the heirlooms I was talking about." he handed over a stack of antique plates and cups that were on a nearby crate. Magnus stuffed them in his knapsack and quickly exited the residence. It was still fairly early in the day, so he decided to go ahead and leave the city to get a start for Winterhold.

He exited via the front gate, and was quickly back at the stable. He debated buying a horse to speed him along, but realized he was shy about 400 gold when he asked how much they were, so he moved on.

Following the road northwest he trekked on, until well into the night he saw an inn up ahead. He only knew it was an inn for sure when he saw the sign up front, which read 'Nightgate Inn' and he gratefully entered to get out of the cold, snowy night.

"Welcome, stranger!" the owner called out. Looking around, Magnus noted there were only two other patrons at the inn, an orc and a man. He went up to the innkeeper and laid 5 gold on the bar, stating. "Room for the night please."

"Of course, take the one on the right." the innkeep said jovially.

"Can I get an ale as well, preferably Black-Briar?" Magnus questioned.

"Sure, just a moment." Once he came back from a barrel at the back of the room, Magnus asked. "So what's the word, innkeep? Any work, or rumors of potential work around?"

"Well, I hear Dawnstar is suffering from nightmares, so if you keep following the road west you'll wind up there. Though a priest of Mara did pass through that said he was on his way to fix it, but who knows, maybe you can get paid for assisting him. There's also rumors if you're Windhelm bound of a boy trying to perform the ritual to summon the Dark Brotherhood. I'd rather avoid those types, but If he's calling for them, he must want someone dead… oh, there's also a bounty on a bandit chief the Jarl's men left here."

"Nightmares in Dawnstar and a bounty… I already knew about the kid, but those are interesting. Wait a minute… you said Dawnstar is west-is Winterhold that way as well?"

The innkeep slowly said. "...afraid not friend, Winterhold is taking the right turn instead of heading west as you did. Though I think If you followed the coast east from Dawnstar you would eventually happen upon the gorge that swallowed most of Winterhold during the Great Collapse. You could follow the canyon up until you found the road, then use the road to get to Winterhold."

"...shit." he said both internally and out loud. He was going the wrong way. Oh well, he would just have to turn around and make up the ground tomorrow as he wasn't going back into the frigid outdoors tonight. He departed for his room after he finished his ale, and started reading a book he picked up in Windhelm after the Greybeards summons called 'The Book of the Dragonborn'.

After he finished the relatively short book, he blew out the candle he was reading by and turned in for the night, hoping to not be disturbed by ethereal loud as oblivion voices.

_**-LINE BREAK-**_

__After correcting his course, he pushed himself nearly to exhaustion to make up for lost time, wanting to hit winterhold before nightfall. It seemed like he would make this goal, as he could see the Statue of Azura in the distance, which was also something he wanted to visit while he was here, in the distance looming over the entire area from its place on the mountain.

He was drawn from his musing by a throaty growl coming from the snowbanks to his right, and he warily turned to see a snowy sabre cat eyeing him hungrily, muscles tensed and ready to pounce. The cat struck quickly, releasing its contained roar and jumping straight at magnus. The mage dove to the side, coming straight up with firebolts ready to be shot. He blasted the predator with three firebolts, but besides the smell of singed fur filling his nose, the cat was undeterred and charged once more. Magnus started raining frostbite on the beast, attempting to freeze it solid, but it's thick fur proved too much to freeze, and the cat leapt once more, this time landing a slash on Magnus' chest and arm.

At this point the mage had had enough, and drew his steel dagger he'd hidden in his robes, and threw it at the beast. His aim struck true, and the creature was felled, dagger sticking out of its eye. He began stitching his wounds together, starting on his arm with a hiss as the spell began knitting his flesh back together. Magnus sat down on the large cat, and pulled his dagger out of its eye with a squelch, wiping it on the animals fur and putting the weapon back in his now torn mage robe.

He finished his walk to Winterhold much more slowly, grumbling the entire way. His mood had plummeted from it's initial high at getting a good night's sleep, and now he only wanted to go back to sleep. But sadly there was still time enough left in the day to go speak to whoever was in charge of applicants at the college, and earn himself a spot.

He approached the gate to the bridge that led to the stone castle that was the college, and pushed it open, only to be pushed back by a high elf woman, who glared at him and stated, "cross the bridge at your own peril! The way is dangerous and the gate will not open. You shall not enter!"

"What?" Magnus asked bemusedly. "Is the college not taking applicants at the moment?"

She looked closely at him, then mumbled. "You do have to look of a mage, but it may be a trick… a test is in order! Should you pass, I will grant you entrance to the College. First, tell me, what do you seek within our walls."

"I wish to Improve my skills, so knowledge and experience I suppose."

"A noble pursuit, many in here are devoted to improving themselves. Secondly, I must observe your skills and ensure you are capable of offering the college something. Everyone who comes to this place comes seeking to learn, but only those who have the potential to make something of themselves are accepted. Perform some of the more advanced spells you know to allow me to test both your knowledge and power."

So Magnus did, he cast nearly every spell he knew, most basic but a few apprentice level spells. He cast flames, frostbite, sparks, and firebolt to demonstrate his destruction knowledge, oakflesh and candlelight for his alteration, the lesser ward and healing spells for his restoration, and a calming spell for the illusion branch. He was woefully unprepared in the conjuration category, and didn't know even one spell, something he wished to improve. Nor was he an expert in Alchemy or Enchanting, though he wished to train under enchanting as well so he could make his weapons better in the future instead of being forced to rely on a basic steel dagger.

"Hmmm…"the Altmer mused. "Rough around the edges, surely. But, I felt power behind those spells that was second to none. I think, given time, you'll fit in around here. Welcome to the College of winterhold." she waved her hand in the direction of the gate, and it swung inward, granting him entry. As he walked along the long stone bridge, each mana well he passed flared up as it sensed his magic, glowing a bright blue.

When he arrived at the main gate, he was forced to stop and stare at the awe-inspiring statue of Archmage Shalidor erected in the center of the courtyard, arms raised in a position as though channeling a powerful spell, the largest mana pool he'd seen yet sending a beacon of pure magicka into the sky. He spotted a Dunmer in official looking robes and a woman chatting behind the statue, and made his way over to them.

They stopped their conversation when he got near enough, the woman choosing to speak while the dark elf observed. "Greetings, young mage. Are you a new applicant or here for information from the arcaneum?"

"New student." Magnus stated.

"Ah, then it appears I shall have to end our conversation prematurely, Archmage. I shall show our initiate around the compound. This way, young man."

"I must admit, I find myself surprised by the number of new applicants we've gotten lately." the woman began conversationally, leading him towards a side door to the right.

"Oh, am I not the only one?" Magnus curiously asked,

"No, you are the fourth in two weeks. We've gained a khajiit, a dunmer woman, a nord male, and now you…"

"Breton, my name is Magnus, miss…"

"Ah yes, I am Mirabelle Ervine, also Breton-born. As I was saying, you are our fourth applicant in such a short span of time. I shall first direct you to the Hall of Attainment, which serves as the quarters for all apprentices in the school. The Hall of countenance is where the professors and other scholars beyond apprentice level stay, and the Hall of Elements is where lessons are held, with the Arcaneum, our library, lies just above it. After I show you to your quarters, go to the hall, as Tolfdir is holding a lesson with your fellow initiates at this moment."

She led him into the Hall of Attainment, a welcome respite from the glacial northern weather of winterhold, and showed him to the first room on the right. The room came with a plain, but comfortable looking bed, two wardrobes and end tables, an actual table with a chair, and a dresser. On the dresser were a few lesser and common soul gems, presumably for enchanting practice, and a stack tomes to read. The table was bare except for an unopened bottle of ale and a wooden plate with a horker steak on it.

"Now that you know where you'll be staying, I shall take my leave. Remember to join Tolfdir's lesson as soon as possible as he will be explaining a future field trip of sorts at the end of it."

"Understood, thank you for the assistance, miss Ervine."

Magnus took one last look at his new room, before jogging back outside and over to the large double doors that marked the Hall of Elements. He opened one of the doors with a loud creak, though no one inside paid him any mind. He pushed open the second gate, metal barred with an insignia crafted into them, and walked over to stand next to the khajiit who was furthest to the left.

"Ah, there is the new member Mirabelle informed me of. Tell me young man, I know these youngsters names as well, so would you mind giving yours?" After he obliged, Tolfdir continued. "Now, as I was saying; magic is at its core, a chaotic entity. One must exercise caution when using it, or you will surely perish. We cannot simply rush into these lessons, much as you all may want to."

The khajiit spoke up. "J'Zargo is ready to learn, has been for over a week now, is your job teaching, or lecturing, master Tolfdir?"

"I would word it more kindly, but I agree, we're all more than ready to learn, have been learning since before we even came to the college." the nord said.

"Yes, I was practicing magic from adolescence. I am more than ready to learn, to experiment with new things!" The dunmer chattered excitedly.

"Hmm…" the man looked at Magnus. "You're being awfully quiet, mister Magnus. What is your opinion on how our lessons should proceed?"

Weighing his words, he slowly stated. "I...I think we should do something practical that could be useful, like an illusion spell or a ward or something."

"A fair opinion, and one I can get behind." The old man clapped his hands. "If you would be so kind, since this was your idea after all, please move to that circle there and be my test subject. Tell me, do you know the basic ward spell?"

"I do."

"Fantastic, use it to help me, and after the lesson I will show you how to improve it into its more advanced version, the steadfast ward as it's called. Yes, stand just there. Throw up your ward when I say so, and I shall launch a firebolt at it to test its effectiveness. All of you on the sidelines, take note of what he does, this is a very useful spell should an experiment go wrong and you don't have the time or space to run, or if you come under assault by less than reputable mages." he opened his hand, and a ball of fire formed in his palm. He nodded to Magnus, who put up a single hand to power his ward, causing a translucent wall of light to form in front of him, shimmering brightly. The ball of fire was launched, and struck his ethereal shield with a bang, dissipating against it on impact.

"Impressive, for a lesser ward it held up well against that spell. You appear to have already partly mastered the steadfast ward without my help, strengthening your shield as you did. A normal lesser ward would have dissipated after impact, but yours only wavered. It still has room for improvement, but admirable nonetheless."

"Thank you sir. You're right, I did alter my ward slightly from the original, as I felt it wasn't strong enough for my purposes. I'm still working on improving it more, so your insight would be valuable." Magnus affirmed humbly.

"Now Magnus, back to the line-up. I think I'll have you pair up with Miss Maryon. J'zargo you and Onmund pair up. One of you will fire the basic frost spell while the other practices their ward. I say frostbite because it will harm the least quickly, while spark and the novice flames will both leave injuries that need to be tended to."

Magnus walked over and smiled at Brelyna and was about to speak, but he was cut off aggravatedly. "Before you ask, yes I have an ancestry steeped in magic, and no I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm sorry what?" Magnus bemusedly questioned.

She got an apologetic look on her face, and sighed, shoulders slumping as she did so. "Sorry, sorry. It's just that...that I'm sick and tired of the same questions every time just because I'm a dunmer. You have no idea how annoying it gets, I even get those questions here at the college occasionally."

"I can understand it getting old, I suppose. Must be a pain to deal with."

"You have no idea. Sorry we got off on the wrong foot, I'm Brelyna Maryon."

"Nice to meet you, I think you got my name earlier."

She smiled. "I did, nice to meet you Magnus. Let's get this lesson started. Hope you don't mind if I practice my ward since you already have the basic version mastered."

"No problem, I was going to suggest the same thing."

"So… how exactly do I do the thing." she gestured with her hands, straining trying to form a shield.

"At first it's mainly willpower and intent. You have to **want** the shield in front of you, then command your magic to do it. Eventually it just becomes second nature, that's when you start tinkering with improving it, or learning an outright better version if there is one."

She got a concentrating look on her face, thinking so hard her eyes began to cross slightly, but she did form a weak ethereal ward.

Magnus chuckled. "I don't think it's supposed to be that difficult, Brelyna."

"Just shut up and do the thing!" she gritted out.

"Fine, fine." he blasted her ward, which held up for nearly 2 seconds, before blasting her and covering her in a thin layer of frost.

"That was kind of weak for a frostbite, more like a cold breeze." she noted.

"I toned it down because I saw you were doing the spell wrong. You're mixing up intent with the mind. Intent is what you want to happen, not what you **think** you want to happen. That might be my fault for explaining it poorly the first time, but oh well. Let's try something else. I'm going to give you 5 seconds to put up a ward, then I'm going to blast you again." he got an evil looking grin at this.

"W-w-w-wait hold on a second! That's not fair!" she panicked.

"1...2...3…" he kept smiling and raised his hand, causing her to become further distressed. She raised her arms in front of her and started hoping for it to work this time, closing her eyes.

She opened then nearly 7 seconds later to see she had a full on ward going, granted it was weaker than his, but it was to the normal standards of the lesser ward. She whooped, then yelled out. "I did it!" at this point she lost her focus and the shield collapsed, causing her to get hit with a much colder variant than before, that actually hurt.

Magnus ran over to her and apologetically said. "Sorry! I started scaling up the power when your shield held off the initial blast. Wanted to test your limits a bit."

"It's...f-f-fine." she said, teeth chattering. She glanced up at him, and, red eyes sparkling with happiness, said. "I think I understand what you meant by intent a little better now, so it's fine. I have to hope, to want it, then will it to happen. I was just trying to force it out, not really thinking about wanting it, just assuming it would appear. Thanks for the help Magnus, you're pretty good at this."

"Eh, I think I'm better suited to the practical stuff, but thanks for the compliment."

They continued practicing for a bit, increasing the time Brelyna could hold up the ward. Eventually Tolfdir came in between their duo and the other duo and spoke. "Good job today everyone. Remember tomorrow we set out for the College's excavation at Saarthal. We'll turn it into a learning experience, and who knows, you may even find something of use there! Remember we set out at 10 sharp! I'll see you all then unless you require my help." he started walking towards the doors, but stopped and turned around. "Oh wait, Magnus my boy, please stay behind. I forgot I promised you advice for improving your ward."

When it was just the two of them left, Tolfdir led him back to the area he'd initially shown off his shield. Tolfdir began speaking as he strolled back to where he was originally. "I noticed when you demonstrated for me that your ward was much more durable than an ordinary lesser ward, but it also wasn't at the potential of its evolved counterpart, the steadfast ward. I saw that you focused mainly on strong defense in the center of the spell, pooling your magicka there. I think that should you manage to make your magicka spread evenly across the shield, it will strengthen it as a whole. Would you try that for me, please, whilst I send another firebolt at you."

Magnus did so, evenly distributing his magical energy instead of leaving it as a strong center with weak edges, and waited for Tolfdir. When the alteration master's blast landed, though, it was not a firebolt, but a fireball, the much more explosive version of the spell. His shield held strongly, not giving an inch as the flames curved around the shield, attempting to find a crack to exploit.

"Just as I thought…" Tolfdir mused. "Had that been your previous shield, your imperfect edges would have shattered and caused a reaction that would have imploded the ward as a whole, causing you to take damage as well. But this one held up against it well."

"You could've told me you were going to do that, I would've put more energy into the ward to make sure it held!"

"My boy, you never know what spell will be thrown at you by a foe, nor its power. Should you have been hurt, I would have taken full responsibility and done my best to ensure you were recovered fully by the end of the day, at the latest. Collete does owe me a favor after all… but I'm going off on a tangent. Congratulations my boy, You've just mastered the steadfast ward in… oh about 6 minutes by my reckoning."

"thanks...I think." Magnus said, then walked for the door.

He went back to his room in the Hall of Attainment, which the other students were now also in, ate, then went to sleep.

_**-LINE BREAK-**_

"Up and at em, my boy. It's time to head to saarthal!" the old man's voice wheezed excitedly.

"Wha...what time is it. Can't be past the crack of dawn…" Magnus mumbled into his pillow.

"Crack of da-It's after 9 Magnus! You must have been more fatigued than you thought. Come on, we're leaving within the hour."

And so he dragged himself up and readied for the journey. Magnus was out front at the gate with Brelyna and J'zargo ten minutes later, waiting on Onmund and Tolfdir. Once everyone had arrived, Tolfdir literally pulling a tired looking Onmund forward by his collar, they set off without ceremony.

As it turns out, Saarthal was very close to winterhold, not very far outside the city, so they made it after just over an hour of walking through the light snow that currently held winterhold. The old man led his four apprentices down into the deep dig site, to an uncovered door sticking out of the ground.

"Everyone, while inside here, please stay close to me. We have excavated a portion of the ruins thoroughly so it should be safe, but it is always better to be prepared."

"Why is the college interested in a random nordic tomb in the first place?" Magnus curiously asked.

"There are magical runes and seals inside here unlike anything we've seen before. It has our… attention to say the least. To scholars like ourselves, something like this is like scenting prey is for a predator."

"Are we looking for anything specific?"

"No my boy, we are not!" Tolfdir stated excitedly. "We are looking for anything and everything that could prove interesting or unique. It's one of the reasons I adore this location so much, we have no clue what we'll find down here! And should my lessons about the dangers of magic happen to sink in along the way… we'll call it a happy coincidence." he whispered the last and winked at Magnus mischievously.

"Come along then, everyone."

He led them into the depths of Saarthal's excavation site, explaining the history of the tomb along the way. How it was one of the earliest, largest nord settlements in skyrim, and how it was subsequently sacked by elves in the 'night of tears' and how afterwards it simply dropped off the radar, and very little that happened is known from the night of tears to present time.

Once they were at the bottom and Tolfdir had pretty much finished his lecture, Magnus questioned. "What do you want me to do, sir?"

"Sir makes me feel older than I already am, please just call me Tolfdir. And I would suggest going to find Arniel Gane and assisting him. He's another one of our scholars who is here to catalogue our finds. I'm sure he would appreciate some assistance searching for artifacts. Just search for some enchanted items along the way and he'll be pleased to have them."

Ten minutes of hunting later, Magnus had found 3 enchanted rings that, from what he could tell, increased his vitality and sped along healing slightly. He handed two of them over to Arniel and kept one for himself, and went back to searching.

He found an open room with a large stone tablet on the wall less than five minutes later, and saw an enchanted amulet hanging from a bust on the tablet. When he yanked the necklace off the wall, the gate that was previously allowing entry to the room closed with a bang.

"Damn it." Magnus cursed. He made his way to try to look for a lever, and when that failed, resorted to trying to lift the gate up, to no avail as it was made of solid iron and weighed more than he could even slightly lift, forget opening it enough to get out.

"Tolfdir! Arniel! Brelyna! Anybody! I'm stuck damn it, I need some help!"

"I'm coming my boy, just hold on a moment." Tolfdir strolled in front of him, and began stroking his beard while pondering Magnus' predicament. "Did you happen to do something that could cause the gate to close?"

"I took this amulet off that stone tablet over there."

"Maybe try placing it back, and if that doesn't work, destroy the tablet and see if it reveals the opening mechanism." Magnus placed the amulet back, but nothing happened, so he took it once more and blasted the stone with a firebolt. The stone remained unaffected, as though mocking him.

"Hmm...most curious. I felt a slight magical reaction when you took the amulet off its pedestal. Maybe try wearing the amulet and firing a spell at the tablet." Tolfdir hypothesized.

He did so, and the tablet **exploded**, leaving behind tiny shards as though he'd tried to vaporize it instead of throwing an apprentice level spell at it. Luckily it also revealed a passage, and caused the gate that was blocking him to rise once more. He was about to exit the trap room when Tolfdir suggested they explore this new area, causing Magnus to curse internally.

They walked down a long hallway, entering into yet another small room. Upon entering, a wave a magic hit the room, tinting everything slightly blue, and an ethereal man appeared before Magnus. Shocked, he jerked his head to look at Tolfdir, who was frozen like a statue examining a wall carving in the room.

"_Know that you have set in motion a chain of events which cannot be stopped." _the voice echoed throughout the room in an eerie way. "_Judgement has not been passed, as you had no way of knowing. Judgement will be passed on your actions to come, and how you handle the dangers ahead of you." _he paused for a moment to take a breath. "_This warning is passed to you because the Psijic Order believes in you. You, mage, namesake of the architect of Mundus, have the potential to prevent disaster on a cataclysmic scale. Take great care, and know that the Order is watching."_ the ethereal man faded to nothing, and the blue tint went away, restoring time to its properly flowing state.

"I-I swear I felt something happen just then…" Tolfdir muttered. "What just happened." he questioned Magnus.

"A mage that called himself a Psijic monk froze time to deliver a warning to me… though it was so cryptic I don't fully understand it."

"I'm sure it will make more sense in time… for a Psijic to reveal themselves to you, though, is a strange sign. They must sense great potential in you, Magnus, as the Psijics disappeared along with the isle they made their headquarters on years ago, centuries even. Would you be willing to repeat what they said to you, perhaps I could be of service deciphering it."

Upon his repetition, Tolfdir simply shrugged, "it is as I said, the warning shall make more sense as time passes. We have no way to know what we have started for now, nor do we know who is being judged for what fully, though I think they are judging you personally, but one cannot be sure."

"Come my boy, we still have ruins left to explore!"

"Alright." Magnus shrugged and made to follow him. The duo came to a room with three coffins vertically stacked against the wall. Entering, one of them must have stepped too heavily, as the coffins burst open, the draugr within awakened and ready to end those who disturb their slumber. They kept the undead warriors back with ease, though, blasting the creatures with firebolts. The central sarcophagus revealed a tunnel for them to continue onwards, the only way further into the ruin from the otherwise dead end room. The passage led to a barred gate that Tolfdir was too busy examining for odd markings to open, so Magnus just sighed and pulled the lever, causing the old man to flinch back, surprised. They swept the room and cleared it of the few draugr within, then moved onto the next.

The next room contained more coffins that, once again, burst open upon their entry. Four more draugr were revealed and slain in short order, and two chains pulled later, the gate barring their entry to Saarthal proper was opened. Tolfdir chose to stay behind and examine the odd style of the room which, according to the old mage, has never been seen before in Nordic burial tombs. So Magnus went ahead solo, putting down any undead unlucky enough to happen across him. He was nearly waylaid by a rune someone placed on the ground the he didn't notice until the last second, literally being saved by his accidentally knocking an urn onto it before he had the chance to step on it.

Magnus was forced to solve a few Nordic pillar puzzles, though in all fairness the order of the pillars was revealed in stone tablets placed behind and above the actual pillars, so he found it fairly easy. By the time he was ready to pass through a large double door, Tolfdir yelled out from a distance behind him. "Hold on my boy! Hold on!" he jogged up to Magnus and put his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "I...I thought it high time I caught up with you, give me a moment and I'll be ready to continue. After a quick breather, they pushed open the heavy wooden doors and entered into a large circular room that held an eerie, pulsing blue glow coming from an unknown spherical object in the center of the room.

"What on earth…" Tolfdir muttered, but it was enough to set off the draugr that had until then been sat on a sort of throne in a thinking position.

"_**Qiilan us dilon!**_" the living corpse boomed.

Magnus and Tolfdir readied their spells and blasted the Draugr, only to find it had no effect on the zombie. The fiend drew a sword and picked up a staff off of the table behind him, and blasted a lightning bolt at the two of them, forcing them to dive to either side to avoid it.

"_**Aav Dilon!**_" the draugr rasped out, voice echoing in the large room.

"Magnus, I have an idea," Tolfdir shouted urgently. "I need you to distract the creature whilst I put it into effect. Buy me time!"

Magnus gave a true battlecry befitting a mage of the College of Winterhold, "If I die you'll be the one I haunt, Tolfdir!" and charged straight at the undead, dropping into a roll when a lightning bolt was sent his way. He came up with his trusty steel dagger drawn, deflecting the creatures sword now that he was in close range. The creature attempted to bring his staff around to vaporize Magnus, but it was slapped away absentmindedly with a backhand, the living mage already making a stab at where the draugr's heart should be. The dagger was slapped aside by the ancient blade the zombie employed skillfully, but Magnus was nothing if not determined. He spun with the blow, bringing his dagger around once more and burying it in the creature's side. He was kicked away with an armored boot as the thing growled, whether it was in pain or not Magnus couldn't tell. Suddenly a lightning spell flew over the combatants heads and collided with the mystical orb, which subsequently sent a lightning bolt straight at the draugr, driving the thing to its knees.

Magnus didn't waste his opportunity, and drew his hands together to dual cast a spell, then tried firing as powerful a firebolt as he could muster straight at the creature's head. He actually overpowered the firebolt so much it turned into an entirely different spell, the fireball. The adept spell exploded against the creatures center in a ball of flames, finishing it off.

"_**Unslaad krosis…**_" the thing muttered as it drew one last, rattling breath, the blue light in its eyes dying as it did. Magnus strolled over to reclaim his dagger, and grimaced as he withdrew a half melted piece of junk from the draugr's side. Tossing it aside, he instead picked up the thing's staff, and tested it out by firing a lightning bolt at a nearby wall, leaving a large scorch mark. "I could get behind this… I still need a legitimate blade, though this will work in the short term." he muttered. Further searching of the creature revealed another enchanted amulet, which he took for himself. Walking over to the table the staff was on to pocket a gold pouch he had seen, he also found a piece of folded paper on a pedestal, and opened it up to read it.

_ Be bound here, Jyric, Murderer, Betrayer_

_ Condemned by your crimes against realm and lord_

_ May your name and your deeds be forgotten forever_

_ And the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward_

'Interesting…' Magnus mused, and pocketed the note, mentally noting to research this 'Jyric' later. He walked over to Tolfdir, who was examining the levitating orb, and questioned. "So what exactly is this thing?"

"I have no idea! This is absolutely astonishing." Tolfdir gushed. "The Arch-Mage should be informed of this immediately, but I cannot bring myself to leave this…this **thing** unattended. Will you return and inform Savos in my stead, please? He needs to view this object for himself."

"Sure, but what should I tell him?"

Let him know we've uncovered something… unique is I suppose the best word at the moment. It's clearly magical in nature, I'm sure you can sense the magicka coating the air as well as I can. Beyond that, It's like nothing I've ever seen before. This should greatly interest him."

"Alright… are you sure you'll be alright here by yourself?" Magnus concernedly asked.

"I'll be fine my boy… at any rate, we already seem to have cleared the area of any danger in this thing's guardian. Whoever placed this here certainly wished for it to be well guarded, which begs the question of why..."

Magnus bid farewell to the man who was quickly becoming a sort of mentor to him, and went through an iron door to the next room, which revealed a strange wall covered in the writings of an unknown language, very little of it even decipherable as anything beyond chicken scratch. More importantly, Magnus also noticed a large chest by the wall, and to his delight, found it unlocked. He quickly scrounged out over 200 gold from the chest, along with an elven sword, a fantastic replacement for his lost blade. He would be sure to get some practice from someone in enchanting, though, so he could make this blade more durable and deadly. The path he had chosen led right back to the beginning of Saarthal, and he was Winterhold bound once more.

_**-LINE BREAK-**_

He made it back to the college as quickly as he could, and ran tiredly up the steps to where Mirabelle said he would find the Arch-Mage. He stopped for a breather before he decided to interrupt the Dunmer's reading, then walked over and cleared his throat.

"Sir, if I could have a word?" Magnus requested.

"Sir, how quaint. Call me Savos, Aren, or Arch-Mage, boy, no 'Sir' or 'Mister'."

"Ok si- Arch-Mage, but I really need to speak with you."

"About?" Savos pressed.

"It's about Saarthal."

The Arch-Mage put a hand to his forehead and groaned. "Don't tell me another apprentice has been incinerated, I have enough to deal with already."

"No, Savos. Umm… Tolfdir told me to tell you that you would find what we discovered 'very interesting'. All I can tell is it's some sort of orb and it's clearly magical."

"I trust Tolfdir will provide me with a more in depth analysis. Very well, I shall make for the excavation immediately. Oh, wait, you should be properly rewarded for bringing me this information without delay. I'm assuming it is important information, yes?"

"Tolfdir seems to think so, and what do you mean by reward?"

"Tell me… do you know the magelight spell?"

"No, but I know the candlelight spell. Prefer it in all honesty as it stays by me instead of having to constantly recast it."

The Arch-Mage thought for a moment. "Well… I was going to gift you a staff of magelight, but as you are not partial to that spell, I suppose I shall give you something else." he walked over to a nearby safe and pulled out a ring. "The gem in this ring is enchanted to hold Magicka, it shall drain a small amount while you sleep, and feed the energy back into your body when you have need of it, therefore giving you additional reserves. It served me well in the past, and I hope it will do similarly for you."

He made to leave, but turned around before descending the stairs. "I would also ask that you begin researching this yourself. Go down to Urag in the Arcaneum and see if he has any relevant information available."

"As you wish, Arch-Mage." he stated, slipping his new gold and sapphire ring on his finger.

He went down the opposing set of stairs from the Arch-Mage, going to the library instead of back to the Hall of Elements, and entered the large room. The Library was, besides the entrance area, circular in shape, and completely covered in closed bookshelves. He ignored those, in Favor of walking over to the Orc librarian, Urag Gro-shub.

The Orc took one look at him and growled out in that tone that only an orc could manage, "Take a look around you. You are now in the Arcaneum, of which I am in charge. You might as well consider this my own personal plane of Oblivion. Should you… disrupt my Arcaneum, I'll have you torn apart by angry Atronachs. Now, do you require assistance?"

It took a moment for Magnus to move past the threat into the question, but he eventually answered. "Y-yea, I need to learn more about Saarthal, specifically an object we found there. An orb, taller than me, as wide as it is tall, strange carvings and markings all over it."

"I heard about it, word travels fast here, you know. Supposed to be some big mystery. Don't even bother asking, because I don't have anything to help you… not anymore anyway."

"You don't have anything?" Magnus despondently moaned.

"Not anymore. A mage that ran from the college named Orthorn stole some and ran away to join a group of summoners at Fellglow keep. He hoped to use them as a peace offering of some kind, if I remember correctly. One of those books has relevant information for you, but I can't remember which book or what it is. You want the information, find Orthorn and inquire about the books with him. I'll be willing to compensate you if you manage to return them to the library though. I… do not like knowing that someone stole **my **books and that they're still out there."

"Ok, I'll do it. How long has this guy been gone anyways? He can't have been gone that long what with him having college property and all. Were you all planning on sending someone after him?"

Urag sighed. "Aren's approach to these things is to let them sort themselves out, no one cares enough to bother with fetching them so I thought they were lost, though now it seems like you'll be doing the sorting, so good luck with that."

"I'll do my best to get them. Why'd this Orthorn leave the college anyways. I assume he was an apprentice?"

"He was. The summoners and him became… fast friends. They researched things beyond what the college allowed, though. Orthorn became taken with them, and in turn took my books to aid in ingratiating himself with them."

"All right, thanks for the information, I'll track him down." he went to leave the Arcaneum, but was pulled aside by Faralda, the Altmer who tested him when he entered the college.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you. Be wary, Ancano is searching for you."

"Who?" was Magnus inquisitive response.

"The Thalmor advisor here at the college. At least… officially. Some say he's just here to spy on our business."

"Would those people be correct?" Magnus questioned lowly.

"In my personal opinion… yes. But I could be wrong."

"Understood. Why is he looking for me?"

"I'm not sure, but either way, mind what you tell him."

"I will. I do not suffer spies lightly. Thank you for the warning, Faralda."

"No thanks are necessary." he got up and left without impediment this time, only to be pulled aside by the very same 'advisor' Faralda had warned him about once he was headed towards the Hall of Attainment.

"You there. I have questions for you, about what was found in Saarthal. You were there, yes?"

"Possibly…"

"Don't insult my intelligence, I know very well that you were. Tolfdir is still there, yes? I expect a full report when he returns."

"Mmhmm."

"And now the Arch-Mage has just rushed off as well. I assume you informed him about this discovery and he went to verify it himself?"

"...why does this even matter to you?" Magnus irritably asked.

"Something was discovered in that ruin. Something that Tolfdir deemed important enough to send an apprentice, a newly inducted apprentice at that, alone, to inform the Arch-Mage to come and personally investigate it. That sounds precisely like something that matters to me."

"Not really, it sounds like college business and whatever the Arch-Mage deems you should hear he could tell you when he got back."

"As advisor to the college, I need to stay up to date on the latest information, and who knows when Savos will return. Thank you for your help, you are dismissed." Magnus entered the Hall of Attainment and collapsed into his bed, weary beyond belief at the day he'd had. He was asleep within minutes, deciding to wait until tomorrow to fetch the books.

_**-CHAPTER END-**_

_**-EXTRA SCENE-**_

Sigurd was gasping for air at the extreme altitude of High Hrothgar, trying to get a decent breath in the low oxygen air. He was dragging a sack of supplies for the Greybeards behind him, given to him by a man named Klimmek at the bottom of the mountain. The man was distraught at not being able to make his monthly supply delivery to the Greybeards because of his body's limitations, so how could Sigurd do anything but offer to take the supplies up for him.

Besides the ridiculous number of steps, seven thousand of them to be precise, he had also been forced to fight a pack of frostbite spiders that had made the lower part of the mountain their nest. He handled that fight well, cutting them down easily with the steel greatsword he wielded. The frost troll he encountered, though, had required a more heavy handed approach, in this case one of the shouts he'd learned while accompanying his shield brother Farkas into Dustman's Cairn, _**YOL**_. he found out after killing a dragon that had been attacking a group of hunters in the wilderness, his second kill, that _**YOL**_ meant fire in the dragon tongues. And frost trolls were especially vulnerable to fire.

Needless to say, the troll was not long for this world, and Sigurd tiredly clambered further up the mountain, eventually reaching his current position. He'd just rounded the corner and come into view of High Hrothgar when he collapsed tiredly, deciding to rest in the snow for a moment, as his legs felt both like jelly and lead at the same time, how he did not know, but it was true. He managed to pick himself up eventually, and staggered over to the donations chest, dropping the heavy sack he'd lugged all the way up the seven thousand steps inside. He climbed the last few steps up to the front door of the castle wearily, and pushed open the door to reveal a sparse, dark interior.

_**-EXTRA SCENE END-**_

AN: Hope y'all enjoyed. Took awhile cause skyrim's awesome, but another chapter for a story is done. Also working on sword and storm and fresh start, they're slowly but surely coming along. No more inspiration for defiance of fate, so it might be a bit before the next chapter of it comes out, but no worries i'm not gonna abandon anything. See you when i see you.


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